“He's the hardest-working man I've ever seen in my life. He will not let his fans down. So, I kind of applaud him," McEntire tells Access Hollywood Live's Natalie Morales and Kit Hoover. "If he did need to lip sync, he showed up.”

McEntire admits that Brooks' lip-syncing wasn't the best she's ever seen -- “He’s not that good at it, so you know he doesn’t do it very often!” she says -- but she further defends Brooks by saying, "I’m not going to criticize Garth at all. I can’t out-work him -- and I’m a hard-working person, but I can’t keep up with him, so kudos for him.”

Although Brooks might be one of the hardest-working artists in country music, he insists the credit for his success doesn't belong to him alone.

"I’ve got a band and crew that works their dog butts off," Brooks says. "If you want to know where we’re at right now, we’re in the middle of 12 shows in 10 days. Not 10 shows in 12 days -- 12 shows in 10 days. That band and crew works harder than anybody."

Brooks, who was named Entertainer of the Year at the 2017 CMA Awards, is about to wrap up his World Tour in Nashville in mid-December. He'll play a string of concerts at Music City's Bridgestone Arena before the holidays.